Bible Commentaries
Psalms 16

Verses 1-11

According to Peter, Acts 2:25-31, and Paul, Acts 13:35, this psalm relates to Christ, expressing the feelings of His human nature in view of His sufferings and His victory over death and the grave, including His exaltation to the right hand of God. The words of Paul, Php_2:6-11 , are a fine commentary to this psalm. Michtam, a hymn, or anthem, distinguished by the use of epigrams, of David.

v. 1. Preserve Me, O God, protecting the Petitioner who speaks through David from harm and danger; for in Thee do I put My trust, seeking refuge in Jehovah alone.

v. 2. O My soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art My Lord; rather, "I say to Jehovah, My Lord art Thou," His Ruler, His all-powerful Stay and Defense; My goodness extendeth not to Thee, rather, "is not beyond Thee"; for He knows nothing that He can consider truly good beyond God; the Lord is His highest and most precious possession;

v. 3. but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent, in whom is all My delight, that is, God is the Speaker's Lord for the holy ones who are on the earth and the excellent in the sight of God. He is in close relationship with these saints, with those who place their trust in the God of their salvation; He has all His delight in such truly excellent people, and He is therefore anxious to have them all become partakers of this delight.

v. 4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god, trying to place anything else beside, or in the place of, the true God, whether it be mammon, honor, pride, lustful indulgence, or any other evil, the result of this foolish exchange being that the sorrows of the offenders are increased. Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, He will not sacrifice in their name, because their hands are steeped in blood, because their consciences are burdened with deeds of blood, nor take up their names into My lips, so much as mention them favorably in the hearing of God. He renounces all connection with the wicked world, everything that even savors of friendship with such blasphemers. Instead, He turns to Jehovah alone.

v. 5. The Lord is the Portion of Mine inheritance, the allotment of His portion, and of My cup; Thou maintainest My lot. His lot is the enjoyment of Jehovah's mercy, who continues to shed upon Him the fullness of His kindness.

v. 6. The lines, the fortune allotted to Him by God, are fallen unto Me in pleasant places, in joyful regions, where it is a pleasure and a delight to be; yea, I have a goodly heritage, an inheritance of joy given to Him by Jehovah; all the glories of eternal bliss in heaven are His For this kindness of Jehovah the praises of the Speaker arise.

v. 7. I will bless the Lord, who hath given Me counsel, praising Jehovah for the counsel and assistance afforded Him in every emergency of His life; My reins also instruct Me in the night seasons, the inmost feelings of His heart and mind bring all these facts to His remembrance.

v. 8. I have set the Lord always before Me, over against His eyes, as the one object which He must never forget, upon which He must concentrate His grateful thoughts. Because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved, with Jehovah at His side to uphold and sustain Him, He will never sink down, never be overcome.

v. 9. Therefore My heart is glad, and My glory rejoiceth, the dignity of His soul is lifted up in exultation; My flesh also shall rest in hope, dwelling in security, His body resting in safety. The contrast shows that the body of the Messiah is thought of as separate from the soul in the rest of the grave. Even when His mortal body is placed in the grave, will it be secure under God's protecting hand.

v. 10. For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, letting it be forgotten in the realms of the dead; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption, the decay of the grave, Job 17:14. The Messiah's human body, though placed in the grave, was not to be subject to decay, the process of corruption was not to start in His case.

v. 11. Thou wilt show Me, true human being though He was, the path of life, the way which leads to the full and unlimited enjoyment of eternal life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy, before the face of Jehovah, in the gracious light of His countenance; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore, such as last throughout eternity. Jesus Christ, though laid in the grave, held by the power of death apparently like all human beings, His soul being separated from His body, yet was not subject to corruption and decay, but arose on the third day, His human nature now having entered upon the full use of the divine glory and majesty communicated to it in the incarnation. All believers, moreover, who are joined to Him in true fellowship, will with Christ be partakers of the eternal pleasures of heaven.